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Since the beginning of the 1990s, social and demographic changes in the Russian Federation, stemming from under the Soviet Union, led the country towards an aging population, often described in media as a "demographic crisis". [1] [2] [3]
The demographic crisis has a positive economic effect on the second stage of the changing age structure of the population (the fraction of the average working-age generation is maximal at a relatively small proportion of younger and older) and a negative economic effect on the third stage of the changing age structure of the population (when the proportion of the older generation is maximal at a relatively small share younger and middle generation). By 2025, Russia will have labor shortages. [4]
With a reduced fertility rate, the load on the working population increases because each worker has to support more retirees. [1]
Russia at the end of the 19th century was a country with a young population: the number of children significantly exceeded the number of the elderly. Up to 1938, the population of the Soviet Union remained "demographically young", but later, since 1959, began its demographic ageing: the proportion of young age began to decline, and the elderly started to increase, which was the result of lower fertility. [2] This was not unique to Russia, and such issues have been felt in many developed countries and increasingly in many developing countries as well. [5]
Currently, the share of people aged 65 and older in the population of Russia is 13%. According to forecasts of the Russian Academy of Sciences from the early 2000s, in 2016 elderly people aged over 60 would have accounted for 20% of Russians, and children up to 15 years would only have made up 17%. However, in Russia, in contrast to other countries, aging is limited by high mortality among older people. [2] [7]
In 2020 however, death rates of over 500,000 people were reported due to the COVID-19 pandemic and 700,000 total deaths since the start of the pandemic. Comparing the two years, 2021 has estimated to have less of an impact on death rates but still exceeded beyond the average birth rates. President Vladimir Putin's plan to overturn the stagnation was announced in 2017 in response to the downward trend. However the plan only partially helped in their demographic crisis and was hindered by the Pandemic, despite showing signs of recovery.
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1897 | 67,473,000 | — |
| 1926 | 93,459,000 | +1.13% |
| 1939 | 108,377,000 | +1.15% |
| 1959 | 117,534,000 | +0.41% |
| 1970 | 130,079,000 | +0.93% |
| 1979 | 137,552,000 | +0.62% |
| 1989 | 147,386,000 | +0.69% |
| 2002 | 145,166,731 | −0.12% |
| 2010 | 142,856,836 | −0.20% |
| 2015 | 144,985,057 | +0.30% |
| 2019 | 146,764,655 | +0.31% |
| 2020 | 146,171,015 | −0.40% |
| 2021 | 146,000,460 | −0.12% |
| Source: [9] [10] [ failed verification ] [11] | ||
The natural population declined by 997,000 between October 2020 and September 2021 (the difference between the number of births and the number of deaths over a period). [12] The natural death rate in January 2020, 2021, and 2022 have each been nearly double the natural birth rate. [13]
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the demographic crisis in the country has deepened, [14] as the country has reportedly suffered high military fatalities while facing renewed brain drain and human capital flight caused by Western mass-sanctions and boycotts. [15] Many commentators predict that the situation will be worse than during the 1990s. [16]
In March 2023, The Economist reported that "Over the past three years the country has lost around 2 million more people than it would ordinarily have done, as a result of war [in Ukraine], disease and exodus." [17]
According to Russian economist Alexander Isakov, "Russia’s population has been declining and the war will reduce it further. Reasons? Emigration, lower fertility and war-related casualties." [18] Russian journalist Andrey Kolesnikov noted that "We are seeing a phenomenon Russia has faced many times: wave after wave of wars and repression that drain away human resources." [19]
The UN is projecting that the decline that started in 2021 will continue, and if current demographic conditions persist, Russia’s population would be 120 million in fifty years, a decline of about 17%. [20] [17]
In January 2024, the Russian statistics agency Rosstat predicted that Russia’s population could drop to 130 million by 2046. [21] The UN's 2024 scenarios projected Russia's population to be between 74 million and 112 million in 2100, a decline of 25 to 50%. [22]
Many Russian politicians have called for the reinstating of the Childless tax in Russia that it used to have from the 1940s until the 1990s, due to declining birth rates.
In August 2022, Russia revived the Soviet-era Mother Heroine award for women with 10 children. [23] [24] [25]
As of the 2021 census, the population of Russia was 147.2 million. It is the most populous country in Europe, and the ninth-most populous country in the world, with a population density of 8.5 inhabitants per square kilometre. As of 2020, the overall life expectancy in Russia at birth was 71.54 years.
Krasnodar Krai is a federal subject of Russia, located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and is administratively a part of the Southern Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Krasnodar. The third most populous federal subject in Russia, it had a population of 5,838,273 as of the 2021 Census.
Kirov Oblast is a federal subject of Russia located in Eastern Europe. Its administrative center is the city of Kirov. As of the 2010 census, the population is 1,341,312.
Tambov Oblast is a federal subject of Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Tambov. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 1,091,994.
Smolensk Oblast, informally also called Smolenshchina (Смоленщина), is a federal subject of Russia. Its administrative centre is the city of Smolensk. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 888,421.
Orenburg Oblast is a federal subject of Russia, mainly located in Eastern Europe. Its administrative center is the city of Orenburg. From 1938 to 1957, it bore the name Chkalov Oblast in honor of Valery Chkalov. As of the 2021 Census, the city has population of 1,862,767.
Penza Oblast is a federal subject of Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Penza. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 1,266,348.
The Central Federal District is one of the eight federal districts of Russia. Geographically, the district is situated in the extreme west of present-day Russia; although it can be considered as the central region of European Russia. The district covers an area of 650,200 square kilometers (251,000 sq mi), and recorded a population of 40,334,532 in the 2021 Census. The Presidential Envoy to the Central Federal District is Igor Shchyogolev.
Northwestern Federal District is one of the eight federal districts of Russia. It covers most of Northwest Russia. Its population was 13.6 million, of which 83.5% was urban, living in an area of 1,687,000 square kilometers (651,000 sq mi), according to the 2010 Census. The current Envoy to the Northwestern Federal District is Aleksandr Gutsan, who was appointed to the post after previously serving as Deputy Prosecutor General. He replaced former Envoy Alexander Beglov, who was removed from the position and made acting Governor of Saint Petersburg.
The Russian Cross, also known as a death cross, is the name of a demographic trend that occurred in Russia and many other countries of the former Warsaw Pact. In Russia, starting in 1988, birth rates among native Russians were declining, while from 1991 the death rates started climbing.
Alcohol consumption in Russia remains among the highest in the world. According to a 2011 report by the World Health Organization, annual per capita consumption of alcohol in Russia was about 15.76 litres of pure alcohol, the fourth-highest volume in Europe. It dropped to 11.7 litres in 2016, dropping further to about 10.5 litres in 2019. Another general trait of Russian alcohol consumption pattern was the high volume of spirits compared with other alcoholic drinks.
The North Caucasian Federal District is one of the eight federal districts of Russia. It is located in extreme southern Russia, in the geographical area of the North Caucasus. The federal district was split from the Southern Federal District on 19 January 2010. The population of the federal subjects comprising the federal district was 10,171,434 according to the 2021 Census, living in an area of 170,400 square kilometers (65,800 sq mi). The current Envoy is Yury Chaika.
Daria Andreyevna Khaltourina is a Russian sociologist, anthropologist, demographer, and a public figure. She is the head of the Group of the Monitoring of Global and Regional Risks of the Russian Academy of Sciences, co-chairperson of the Russian Coalition for Alcohol Control, as well as the Russian Coalition for Tobacco Control. She is a laureate of the Russian Science Support Foundation Award in "The Best Economists of the Russian Academy of Sciences" nomination (2006).
Immigration to Russia involves foreign citizens seeking permanent residence in the territory of the Russian Federation. Historically, Russian empire was one of the World's leading destination for immigrants starting with the reign of Peter I in ca. 1700, and especially after the ascension of Catherine II to the Russian throne in 1762, until the October Revolution in 1917. Some regions, such as Novorossiya, Slavo-Serbia, Volga Germans' territory and Bessarabia were specifically designated for resettlement of immigrants.
The House of Lopukhin was an old Russian noble family, most influential during the Russian Empire, forming one of the branches of the Sorokoumov-Glebov family.
Anatoly Vasilyevich Belov was a Soviet religion scholar and atheist propagandist. He was a First Deputy Chairman of the Council for Religious Affairs under the Council of Ministers of the USSR, an expert on Adventism and one of the authors of the Atheistic Dictionary and Atheist Handbook.
The Russian United Social Democratic Party was a short-lived Russian center-left political party led by Mikhail Gorbachev, the former president of the USSR. The party included representatives on an individual basis:
The "Circle of Pagan Tradition" ("CPG") is one of the Russian Slavic Native Faith associations.
The Center for Religious Studies in the name of Hieromartyr Irenaeus of Lyons is a Russian non-profit nongovernmental anti-sectarian organization engaged in research and information and consulting work on the activities of new religious movements and sects of a destructive and totalitarian nature. The Center was established in 1993 with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia and has been headed by Alexander Dvorkin since its founding. The Center is the nucleus of the Russian Association of Centers for the Study of Religions and Sects (RACIRS).
Since 2020 in Russia, for incomes of the population, the median per capita income is calculated, based on the size of which the subsistence rate and the minimum wage are also calculated.
